BY OLYMPIA MEOLA

A new political action committee has formed to defeat lawmakers who voted in favor of legislation requiring women to receive an ultrasound before an abortion, and the “Personhood” bill, which would define life as beginning at conception.

Women’s Strike Force says on its web site that it’s dedicated to recruiting and supporting candidates opposing legislators who supported the two contentious pieces of legislation that have drawn attention to Virginia nationally.

The PAC’s leadership team includes former state delegates Katherine Wadell, of Richmond, Robin Abbott, of Newport News, Kris Amundson, of Mt. Vernon, and Margi Vanderhye, of McLean.  It also includes Leslie Byrne, the first woman elected to Congress in Virginia and an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2005.

In a news release announcing its creation, Wadell, who served as an Independent in the Virginia House of Delegates  said she’s “angry and fed up with what is happening in the Virginia General Assembly relating to women’s reproductive rights and I believe like many women that it is time to take action. It is time to push back against this intrusive legislation into our personal lives.”